Certainly the translations, when finished, did not satisfy me, and so I turned back to the beginning and have rewritten the stories in my own way, which (as you may say with the Irish butler) may not be the best claret, but tis the best yeve got.

Quiller-Couchs selection of four children's stories from the Cabinet des Fées, the French collection spanning over forty volumes. What began as a strict translation became a retelling of these classic fairy tales.